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Beary Cute Christmas Banner
Polar bear caught your eye, eh? Our favorite part about this bear—besides the fact that he looks cute and snuggly—is the stencil-like pattern. This banner can be hung in a child’s room, living room, or on a door. Alternatively, you can use this pattern to put the polar bear on a pillow, tote bag, or whatever else you like!
Supplies & Tools
- Printable template (download here)
- Tape
- 0.25 yard white felt
- 0.5 yard dark green felt
- Felt (9" x 12" sheet): red, black, pink
- Lace ribbon, 3" wide (You could use crafter’s lace, too.)
- Embroidery needle
- Embroidery floss: black, dark grey, green
- White thread
- 1 wooden dowel, 18" long
- Hot glue gun & glue sticks
- Scissors
- Yardstick
- 2 yards ribbon, 5/8" wide
- Buttons
- Pins
- Optional: handmade bows, hat, or holly
Directions
- Print the template, align the dotted lines, tape the pages together, and then cut out the pieces.
- Pin the template pieces onto felt.
- Cut out pieces, remove pins and set aside. Set template pieces aside.
- Pin the eyes and nose onto the face and sew with black embroidery floss. (We divided the strand of black floss in half.) Remove pins and set aside.
- Use white thread to sew the ears onto the face. Set the face aside.
- Measure and cut a piece of green felt that measures 18" x 20".
- Position the polar bear on the green felt and pin in place. We placed the bear just a tad lower than the center. If it helps, you could go ahead and fold the top edge over (as in step #12) to have a better visual.
- Begin sewing the bear in place. Use a full (6 strand) piece of embroidery floss so that the stitches would be visible. (We {heart} contrast stitching!)
- Continue sewing each piece of the polar bear.
- Cut snowflake shapes from the lace. We cut the ribbon into a squares, rounded the corners to make a circle, and then cut out darts. Make snowflakes in different sizes.
- Place snowflakes on felt and sew in place with white thread (not embroidery floss—you don't want to see the stitches).
- Fold the top edge of the banner over (towards the back) and pin along the edge. Remove 1–2 pins, apply a thin line of hot glue, and press gently. Continue removing pins and gluing the felt until finished.
Note: To make sure you have enough room for the dowel, slide the dowel into the felt prior to gluing.
- Trim any excess felt, if needed.
- Cut 2 pieces of ribbon, each measuring 36" long.
Note: Whenever we use ribbon, we like to seal the edges with a flame to prevent them from fraying. - Take one piece of ribbon and position it over one end of the felt (near the dowel). Place a button on top of it. Be sure that the button is not too close to the dowel. You want there to be enough room to take the dowel in/out.
- Sew the button in place, tie off ends, and trim excess.
- Repeat for other side.
- Tie ribbons in a bow and hang on your wall or door.
Idea from the Elves:
- If you like, give the bear some accessories: some holly, a hat, a bow, etc.
